Nguyen Van Cong, spokesman for Vietnam's transportation ministry, said six bodies were discovered Thursday morning and six people were still missing. All the victims were Vietnamese construction workers.

Hospital officials said the death toll was likely to rise as many of the victims had serious injuries.

In one ward at Can Tho's Military Hospital, three of the 11 patients were in critical condition, and several had serious brain injuries.

"We have three patients on respirators, and it's very unlikely that they will survive," said Dr. Tran Ngoc Vu.

The only patient in the ward well enough to speak was Nguyen Quoc Trung, 31, who was working on the section of the bridge that collapsed.

"We were working normally and all of a sudden we were flying down," Trung said.

He landed semi-conscious, with his chest stuck between concrete and twisted metal.

"I didn't know if I was in the jungle or the middle of the air," Trung said. "I didn't know where I was."

After two hours, rescue workers pulled him from the wreckage. Two of his friends, who had been working next to him, died in the accident, Trung said.